God's Grace
by Mishamiga67
Summary: The angels have fallen and Dean is left picking up the pieces. Including an ex-angel, a suffering brother, and a missing God. In this race to find God, will Dean, Sam and Castiel be able to return the angels to Heaven?Or will they lose something even greater along the way? Set after S8 finale. Rated M for language and possible smut later on.


God's Grace

Castiel has been walking for a very long time. He was not sure how long it had been but it was dark when he started and the sun was just now starting to rise. Cas was not used to walking this far. His shoes were muddy and the left had a hole near his big toe that made it very uncomfortable. The angel was not used to such pain, even though he had been stabbed and cut and punched, this was a different pain. Every muscle in his body screamed with every step, there was a very unpleasant throbbing in his head and his arm was hanging at an odd angle, which was the center of his pain, it was probably broken. At least, that's what he guessed Sam and Dean would say about it. They have had broken bones before, and Cas knew it was a very painful experience, though he had never experienced it before. Not soon after the sun started peeking over the horizon, Cas heard a familiar sound, a car motor, but not just any car.

"Cas!" Dean had a mix of shock and relief on his face. He jumped out of the car as soon as it stopped and ran to Cas. "Cas! What happened? Where did you go?"

He reached his friend just as the dark haired man staggered to a halt, and collapsed into the dirt. Dean caught him before his head could hit the ground. He grabbed the other man by the shoulders but released him quickly as Castiel screamed at the contact.

"Oh man… your arm... I think it's broken"

So, he was right after all. Cas sobbed and realized that his cheeks were already wet, he must have been crying already. Dean took off his jacket and put it around Cas's shoulders. "c'mon, we have to get you home."

Dean helped Castiel stand and supported the majority of his weight as they slowly made their way to the Impala. They did not make it far; Castiel had to stop only a few steps in and vomited onto the pavement. Dean held him so Cas wouldn't fall into the pool of bile and waited until all was out of Cas's system, all the while murmuring quietly to his friend, "It's okay, Cas. I've got you. It's okay, You'll be okay."

Once he was done vomiting, Cas and Dean continued to the ca. when Castiel was settled as comfortably as possible in the back seat, Dean got into the driver's seat and drove off towards home.

"Don't worry about it, Cas." He said, "Your arm will be fixed up in no time, don't you worry about it one bit." Castiel did not hear him, he had already settled into the warm oblivion of unconsciousness.

- + - S - + -

Castiel was in pain. The only time he had been in this much pain was when Crowley reached inside his ribcage, and that did not even last that long. The problem about this pain was that it was entirely new to Cas. An all-around aching pain seemed to be coming from nowhere and everywhere all at once.

The first thing he noticed when he opened his eyes was that he was no longer wearing his trademark trench coat and tie. Instead, Cas wore only pants and socks, and not his slacks that he usually wore, but weird, loose, cotton pants. Castiel recognized them as something Sam and Dean would call "PJs". He was also surrounded with pillows and covered in bandages and bruises. His right arm that was in so much pain before, was now dulled, but no by much, and it as wrapped tightly and secured in front of him with a sling.

The next thing Cas noticed was that he was not somewhere he had ever been before. It was a bedroom, plain but comfortable. The room did not have much décor or personal touch.

The only things he could really see that had any personality were a worn looking jacket on a chair near the end of the bed, and a photograph on the nightstand. The photo was of a beautiful, blonde woman smiling fondly at the camera. Castiel recognized her as Mary Winchester. He recognized the jacket as well, it belonged to Dean. Was this his room? Castiel thought it must be. The chair was positioned so that whoever was sitting in it would be looking at Cas in the bed. Was Dean watching him sleep?

Angels do not sleep.

Castiel gasped as he remembered the events of yesterday. How he discovered Naomi dead, how Metatron had turned on him. Most importantly, how the angels, and Castiel himself, had fallen.

Castiel was human.

What else would be a suitable explanation for him sleeping? Or the pain he felt throughout his body? Cas was undeniably, painfully, pathetically human.

Castiel suddenly found himself overcome with exhaustion, so he closed his eyes, laid his head back on the soft pillow, and sank into a dreamless sleep once more.

The next time Castiel awoke, he was not alone. There was someone else in the room. Castiel jolted up, but screamed as the sudden lurch sent a sharp pain through his arm.

"Easy now." A hand lightly touched his shoulder and gently pushed Cas back onto the pillows. "Sorry if I scared you, it's kinda creepy havin' someone watch you sleep, isn't it?"

Castiel groaned. "Hello Dean."

"Hello Cas" Dean wore a sad smile on his face.

"I'm sorry, I did not realize how… creepy it was."

"Don't worry about it. How are you feeling?"

Castiel mentally assessed his wounds.

"I am in pain."

Dean nodded"That's what we expected. Sam thinks when you fell, you literally fell... What hurts?"

"My head is throbbing. My feet ache as well as my back."

Dean nodded. "We'll get you all better, don't you worry about a thing, Cas."

After a moment, Cas spoke "Dean... my stomach feels. Odd" as if on cue, his stomach grumbled.

Dean chuckled, "I'll get you something to eat" Dean left the room.

- + - S - + -

A short while later there was a nock at the door and Dean entered, carrying a tray stacked high with food. "I didn't know what you liked," he explained "So I brought… well, everything."

"Thank you Dean." Cas said, sitting up as Dean set the tray on the nightstand. Dean clapped his hands together. "Alright, we got Beef stew, a burger and some fries, crackers, a pudding cup, some tea and water."

Castiel looked at the mountain off food, mouth watering. Dean took his silence as disappointment and busied himself rearranging the plates.

"Sorry I know it's a lot, I didn't know what you wanted and I… I'm sor-"

"No," Cas cut him off, "its great Dean, please don't upset yourself over this."

Dean nodded and they left it at that. "So, what do you want first?"

Castiel nodded towards the bowl, "How about the stew? That smells very good."

Dean smiled as he handed his friend the steaming bowl. "Be careful, it's very hot," Dean said as he gave Cas a spoon as well.

Dean watched as Castiel took the first spoonful into his mouth and swallowed. "It's very good Dean, thank you very much."

Dean grinned. It did not take long for Cas to finish the soup, or the rest of the food, for that matter. Dean excused himself as Cas started on the tea, presumably to go check on Sam, who was bedridden as well. Dean returned soon, however, to tend to Castiel's bandaged head and other wounds, as well as to take the dirty dishes away to the kitchen.

As Dean cleaned the dried blood from Cas's head wound, he chatted, seeming slightly more excited than one should be in a situation as somber as theirs. Nevertheless, it had been a few days since he had anyone to talk to, as Sam was still unconscious.

"You've been out for three days. I was getting worried that you wouldn't wake up but you're awake now, obviously, so I guess I don't need to worry about that anymore. Kevin wanted me to leave him a lone and he barely comes out of his room, he's been working in the basement practically 24/7 so I guess that makes it his territory now. He only comes out to sleep but he'll go days without sleep, kid's a trooper. He's been working his ass off, I keep telling him he needs to rest up but he won't listen, this prophet crap is kinda turning him into an asshole, but that's understandable, right?"

Cas was caught off guard by the sudden question and he nodded hurriedly. He had not really been listening to Dean all that much. "Dean? This is your room?"

He nodded.

"Then where do you sleep?"

Dean did not expect Cas to ask him that, "Oh…" he looked away, refusing to meet Castiel's eyes "Y'know… just the living room. I thought you deserved the memory foam while you're getting used to having to sleep and all"

Cas furrowed his brow "Memory foam?"

Dean chuckled "It remembers you"

"That's very generous of you, Dean."

"It's not a big deal" Dean shrugged. "I'll let you rest. Just yell if you need anything, but I'll check on you in a while if you need anything"

Castiel smiled at him "Thank you Dean, for everything."


End file.
